Reflecting on more than three decades in venture, Alan Feld argues that shifting public markets and capital concentration have materially raised the bar for fund-level outperformance. As IPO thresholds climb and capital bifurcates between mega-platforms and focused early-stage specialists, the message is clear: firms need a sharply defined strategy because straddling the middle is getting harder to sustain.
Dan Gray draws on data from Cambridge Associates, PitchBook, Greenspring, and Sapphire Partners to show that while capital is consolidating around established brands, 40–70% of the past decade’s venture gains came from emerging managers. As 2025 brings the first net decline in VC firms since the dotcom era, much of the industry’s alpha may still lie outside the largest platforms.
Five Tips for GPs Building a Reference List that Actually Helps Close LPs
A practical guide on how to build a reference list that does real work in a fundraise, balancing investment skill with firm operations, and choosing LPs, co-investors, and founders who can speak with specificity. In a tighter market, credible, well-prepped references can be the difference between polite interest and a closed commitment.
How a $12.5 Billion Platform Selects Outlier Funds
Kate Simpson joins David Weisburd to discuss how elite LPs evaluate managers, from building dedicated sourcing engines to conducting reference calls with founders. The core takeaway: sophisticated LPs adjust for fund size, ownership, entry price, and reserves to distinguish true skill from optics.
There's a lot of talk about surviving Funds I–III, but this essay argues there’s another proving ground on the other side. Once a firm is no longer “emerging” but not quite established, the questions shift from survival to longevity, succession, firm identity, and what it really means to endure.
Dan Gray is a prolific thinker, writer and researcher in the VC world. Now the Research Lead at Odin, he sits down with Nick and Beezer to discuss the bifurcation of VC, the different types of risk in venture, and the role geography plays in investing. He also unpacks a survey he recently conducted that dives deep into how early-stage VC is faring in a challenging year.
Minisode: Does the Data Match the Anecdotes?
Beezer and Nick dig into their recent conversation with Dan and discuss various levels of risk tolerance across the ecosystem, including who the data says can handle more, whether GPs are giving up on founders earlier than they used to, and whether Dan’s recent deep dive into changing LP behaviors matches anecdotal wisdom in the world of venture.
Featuring Sapphire Partners
PODCAST
Only 5% of Funds Survive to Fund VIII
With only 17% of Fund Is reaching Fund IV, survival often hinges less on raw returns and more on navigating shifting LP expectations. This episode of The Learning Corner explores how misalignment, not poor investing, derails many firms, and why understanding the language and signals of LPs is critical in today’s contracting venture market.
Backed by new data and a sweep of recent industry analyses, this 2026 roundup argues the venture market isn’t broken, it’s concentrated. Capital is flowing, but through fewer firms and fewer rounds, widening the gap between companies with access and those without. In a cycle shaped by LP consolidation and selective follow-on, sharp strategy and real traction are emerging as the true differentiators for both founders and funds.
The Fundraising Tactic AI Startups are Using to Juice Valuations
A spotlight on a fundraising tactic gaining traction in hot AI deals: selling shares to a lead investor at one price, then issuing additional equity at a sharply higher valuation to set a headline “unicorn” mark. With roughly 20 such multitiered rounds in the past 6–12 months, the practice raises questions about price discovery, paper gains, and how much signal a $1B valuation really carries.
Why the Exploding Secondaries Market is Hard to Pin Down
As companies stay private longer and exits stall, secondaries are becoming core infrastructure, just without the transparency most investors are used to. New data pegs 2025 U.S. venture secondaries anywhere from $62.5 billion to $120.9 billion, with trading heavily concentrated in a handful of marquee names. It’s a mammoth market hiding in plain sight and still remarkably hard to size.
Benchmark Hires Jack Altman, Sees Recent AI Bets Surge
Benchmark has hired Jack Altman as a general partner, folding his young firm into a platform whose recent AI bets have surged. Its 2020 fund is reportedly worth more than 10x on a mix of distributions and paper gains, with the 2024 vintage already at 3x, strong signals as questions swirl around who’s truly winning in AI. The move underscores how established firms are consolidating talent and doubling down where performance is breaking out
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Nothing presented within this article is intended to constitute investment advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Sapphire Ventures, LLC (“Sapphire”). Information provided reflects Sapphires’ views as of a time, whereby such views are subject to change at any point and Sapphire shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. No assumptions should be made that any investment listed above were or will be profitable. Various content and views contained within this article represent those of third party guests, which do not necessarily reflect the views of Sapphire. Such views are subject to change at any point and do not in any way represent official statements by Sapphire.Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in any statement made. Nothing contained in this article may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular company. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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